


Crossroads

by Killjoy013



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Azula (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Childhood Trauma, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Katara (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Late Night Conversations, Mentioned Ozai (Avatar), Narrative Foils babes, Post-Canon, i just think they're neat, mentioned Ursa, these kids need therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:20:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29635245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Killjoy013/pseuds/Killjoy013
Summary: Katara tells herself she's running to something.Azula never wants to feel weak again.Slight Angst. Short and sweet.
Relationships: Azula & Katara (Avatar)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 40





	Crossroads

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be Kazula but my brain decided to make it ambiguous. These girls deserve to heal and grow (and maybe kiss).

Katara stood in the heart of Caldera City on the roof of the Palace. The moon was waxing to a full moon soon. The air was thick with the anticipation of rain. The Hundred Year War was long over and Katara was trying to see where she fit in the world. She traveled, teaching those who would let her and healing those who needed it. Something in her made her not return home. She went everywhere else. Her journey had led her to the Fire Nation. Zuko had greeted her with open arms and an apology on his lips. 

“I-there’s something you need to know.” 

“What did you do?” 

“I couldn’t leave her in that place. I didn't know how bad it was. I just thought nobody would come around.” was all that Zuko said, rubbing his neck. 

Katara wasn’t confused for more than a moment when she saw the Princess of the Fire Nation, walking around freely. In fact, she was eating a rice bowl with her feet up on another chair in the dining room. Katara blinked, surely this was a mirage, but Azula didn’t go away. 

“Good evening, Master Katara,” Azula said softly through a mouthful of salmon. She dug in eagerly as if someone was going to snatch the food away from her any moment.

“Good evening, Azula,” Katara said shortly before grabbing Zuko’s arm in a vice to drag him out the room. 

“I have several questions and you’re gonna answer all of them.” 

“Yes, Ma’am.” 

Zuko explained. Painted a picture of Azula asking for a transfer to a regular prison instead of the mental Institution she was holed up at. Eventually, Zuko responded to her letters in person. The person he saw in front of him was not his sister but a husk of a person he once knew.

“Katara, if you saw her like I did, you would understand. I’ve only had her for two months. She hasn’t done anything to anyone. It’s eerie, how well-behaved she is. She’s still Azula but I dunno, she’s different.”

Katara glanced at the Princess, who was stealing vegetables from Zuko’s bowl as they spoke. She looked skinnier and her face was paler than usual. Katara could see her collarbone jutting out from her robe. 

“I- _fine,_ I’ll trust your judgment but I’m not letting my guard down around her.” 

And Katara didn’t, but Azula seemed to be avoiding her altogether. She didn’t know if it was a good thing. Maybe Azula was scared of her but that girl didn’t seem to have a scared bone in her body. So Katara wandered the Palace late at night. That’s how she ended up on the roof. Most nights she would watch the moon overthrow the sun but this time she wanted to feel the rain on her skin.

It seems like she wasn’t the only one. 

Azula was sitting in the middle of the gardens, on her knees. The skies became overcast and started to rumble. Then she looked up at the sky. The princess pulled her hair out of the top knot letting her hair whip around in the wind. She stood up and got into a familiar stance. Ozone filled the air as flashes of light crackled around the Princess. Rain steamed and hissed as it hit Azula's body. Katara could only imagine the pure power it must have been to wield lightning. Maybe it felt overpowering like bloodbending was. 

But Azula didn't send it anywhere, she merely let the lightning jump and crackle around her arms. Azula grunted with effort as the sky rumbled. The light sent her sleeves up in ashes. Then Azula let out a battle cry as she aimed for the sky. The heavens groaned back as if she managed to hurt the sky. Azula laughed loudly as she fell to her knees. Then she collapsed on the ground as lightning flashed. 

Katara leaned forward and waited for Azula to get up.

She didn't. 

Katara dropped down from the roof, using the rain to make a slide. She skidded slightly as she knelt by Azula. Her body was steaming but she was still breathing. Katara let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. 

She rolled the other teen on her back to survey the damage and gasped as Azula looked up at her. 

"What the hell were you doing?" Katara hissed. 

"Proving a point…..I can't move my body. Too tired." 

"Proving a point to who? Your god?" Katara mumbled, gathering water from the air and covering Azula's bare arms with it. 

"Don't!" 

" _What?"_

"Don't heal me. I'll be fine. I've done worse to myself."

Katara looked down at the burns on Azula's arms that would turn into scars if not healed quickly. They went from the tips of her fingers to underneath her jawline on both sides creeping up like vines in the swamp. 

"That's reassuring. Do you expect me to watch you drown from the rain?"

"You're a water bender. Figure it out."

Katara made a dome of ice around them and sat down next to Azula. Now that the firebender couldn't run, she had to say it.

"You've been avoiding me."

"I assumed you didn't want to see me and only came to visit my idiotic brother." 

"And I figured you would want a rematch."

"For what? First off, it's storm season and why, so Zuko can have me thrown back in that hellhole?"

"Prison isn't that bad. I'm sure you would get a good room, being royalty and all ."

"I wasn't talking about prison. The only reason I'm not in prison is that I'll escape or be assassinated there. I guess he doesn't want that on his conscience."

"Or maybe Zuko cares."

"Katara, _please_ , we're being realistic here."

Katara blinked at her, "You don't think he cares about you?"

"We don't do that. I know your culture prioritizes family but that's not us."

"It could be."

"For what? Zuko has everything he wants. I'm just a loose end." 

Katara reached out but thought better of it. Azula probably didn't want her pity. Plus her body was still steaming from the lightning.

"I don't believe that. He must love you. You're his _sister_."

"And Ozai is his father. Your point?"

"Ozai hurt him. More than you did or ever could."

"Zuzu and I have always hurt each other. He knocked out my first baby tooth. I gave him his first permanent scar when I bit him for it minutes after, still bleeding from my mouth. I broke his nose and he broke three of my fingers when I was 7. And that was before we got weapons."

"Spirits, where were your parents?"

Azula laughed. She sat up with a groan and flexed her fingers, admiring the new scars on her skin.

"Ozai would spectate. Ursa wasn't there enough to see us brawl. And when she was, she took Zuko's side always. I'm sure you've never done that with your brother."

Katara shook her head. 

"No, can't say I have. I was….with our mother gone and our dad traveling, I had to care for both of us. Gran-Gran was there but she needed to be looked after too. I had to be our mother while also being a little sister. It was….lonely."

"Lonely?"

Katara nodded, "There were people there but they were hurt too. I didn't want to worry anyone so I kept it to myself. There were bigger fish than a girl who missed her mother."

"You had to care for your people. I had to care for mine."

"You tried to kill us. You almost killed Aang."

"So did Zuko. It was war. I was doing what was best for my Nation. I was the court's only hope. Zuko was….not an option. I had to be better and perfect for my people. It was my duty and birthright to do so. I did as best as I could with what I had. It wasn't enough." Azula spat bitterly. 

"You have a second chance. You could mend things with Zuko and your mother-"

"Don't bring her up. I'm a lost cause to them. Zuko and Ursa have already replaced me with a child. A girl. Like I said, a loose end."

"You're a person. People don't get replaced. That's not how it works."

"That is how it works here. In this Palace. In this family. You serve a purpose or you are useless. Why are you here? Trouble in Paradise with your avatar boyfriend?"

Katara snorted, "No, spirits no. Aang is a friend. I...get antsy now that I've seen the world. I can't get enough of it. There's nothing for me to do now but travel and figure out my place in the world."

Azula smirked, "You seemed like the settle down type."

"Well, you don't know me."

"I could." 

Katara looked up at Azula, staring at her bronze eyes. Maybe it was the night that made them tell the truth but Katara couldn't stop. She could be honest. It's not like Azula would judge her. 

"Why?"

"Got nothing better to do. Zuko is weird around me. Skittish most of the time and angry some of the time. You're interesting."

"What happened to your friends? They don't visit you?"

"I haven't seen them since they left me on Boiling Rock."

"That was two years ago."

"Exactly. They've moved on."

"Both of them?"

"Mei doesn't know I'm here. I doubt I'd be in one piece if Ty-Lee did know."

Katara couldn't help that she had a bleeding heart. 

"You're all alone." 

"So it seems. It's alright, I've gotten used to it. I like being left alone." Azula says blankly running her hands on the ice, heating her fingers so she could write her name, and then after a pause, she drew the Fire Nation symbol. 

"You know, whenever I remember you, you seemed untouched, like a force of nature. I thought you were the older sibling or you were twins at first."

"But? There seems to be a but here."

"Then the comet came and I saw you, really saw you. You were powerful but…you were human. You were fragile."

Azula looked down at her hands, "It was-that comet was...you have no idea what it felt like. The _power_ of it all. It was like Agni was inside me. I had to let it out. I had to burn or I would burn from the inside out."

"And now?"

"I'm all burned out. I'm tired, Katara. I'm so very tired." Azula said honestly looking into those ocean eyes. Katara knew how sad her eyes looked. Sokka always said she looked like a wounded polar bear dog. 

"I'm tired too."

Azula's eyes seem to be dimmer, like dying embers, than the flare in them she was used to seeing usually before she had to fight for her life. Azula opened her mouth but Katara noticed something. 

"It stopped raining." She said softly. 

"Now what?"

Katara went to melt the dome around them and then faltered. She didn't want to leave. She wanted to stay here in this bubble of truth and let everything out. Katara was afraid of what would spill out, what was lurking under depths of bottled emotions. 

"I could keep talking," Azula spoke up. 

"Me too." 

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this, you totally should comment and leave kudos so I know what you like and don't like. Constructive criticism and/or commentary is super helpful and appreciated! Thanks for reading!
> 
> KJ Riot


End file.
